In furious fourth quarter, Dalton strikes last

By STEPHEN ECKINGERSpecial to The Daily Record Published: October 13, 2012 4:00 AM

1 of 4 Photos | View More Photos

DOYLESTOWN -- It looked as though the Dalton-Chippewa matchup would be a low-scoring affair when the two teams headed into the fourth quarter on Friday night with just 13 points between them. However, both offenses suddenly caught fire to combine for five scores over the final 12 minutes.

The final of those five, a 4-yard run by Dalton's Quentin Raines with just 1:02 remaining, proved to be the deciding score. Raines took a pitch from quarterback Jack Burke and ran along the left sideline for the game-winning touchdown in a 27-21 win for the Bulldogs.

The play capped a 10-play drive for the Bulldogs, who finished the game with 427 yards of total offense.

Dalton (2-6, 2-3 WCAL) trailed 7-6 heading into the final period, but took the lead on a 4-yard strike from Burke to tight end Adam Metzger. The touchdown throw capped a drive that started all the way back at the Dalton 10. But thanks to the stout Bulldog ground game, the visitors were able to slowly push their way down the field. Raines had three rushes of over 10 yards on the drive and senior Travis Moyer got chunks of yards each time he was handed the ball. However, when the Bulldogs got into the red zone, Dalton head coach Mike Doty decided to trust his quarterback to find the open man. It proved to be the right call as Metzger was wide open in the middle of the end zone. Burke completed just five passes on the night, but two of them were touchdown passes.

"Last game we didn't complete a pass, and it just really comes down to what they were giving us," said Doty. "We had to take advantage of it. They were sending everybody up into the box."

[Article continues below]

Chippewa (1-7, 1-3) quickly answered back as it needed just four plays to go 63 yards and tie the score at 14-14. Freshman quarterback Bailey Breitenstine, who made his first varsity start last week at Waynedale, started the drive off with a quarterback keeper that went for 26 yards. The play was designed to go left, but Breitenstine quickly realized he had no room to work with, so he headed over to the right side and found some room along the sideline to bring the Chipps' offense across midfield. Three plays later, on third-and-one, Chippewa handed the ball off to running back Bo Whetsell, who ran up the teeth of the Dalton defense for an easy 29-yard score.

As they had done all night, the Chipps squib kicked the ensuing kickoff. However, this time the Dalton recovery team struggled to handle the ball and the home team ended up making the recovery at the Dalton 39.

"We are struggling on kickoff," said Chippewa coach Kevin Wolf. "Our kicker is young and we are struggling on our coverage, so we are just trying to squib it. It wasn't an onside kick, but it worked out awfully nice."

Two plays later, the Chipps had the lead.

After Breitenstine found receiver Austin Durbin for a 22-yard completion, the Chipps decided to hand off to Whetsell once again, and once again the 5-foot-11 junior ran up the middle of the Dalton defense and went in for the score.

[Article continues below]

"There was some mis-communication with our linebackers and we paid for that," said Doty. "They ended up running right up the gut."

The Chipps squib kicked once again on the ensuing kickoff, but this time the Bulldogs were able to field the ball and the Dalton offense was off and running, literally.

An 8-play, 55-yard drive was paced by the play of Burke, who completed two key passes on the possession. Burke found Raines along the sideline early in the drive on third-and-nine to bring the ball across midfield. A few plays later, Burke hooked up with Metzger in the middle of the field for a 15-yard play that brought the ball down to the 5-yard line. On the ensuing play, the Bulldogs ran the option. Burke decided to keep the ball and went in for the score to tie the game at 21-21 with just 5:07 remaining.

Instead of kicking away to the Chipps, Dalton decided to try an onside kick. It worked perfectly as sophomore Jesse Mann was able to come up with the ball at the Chippewa 47.

"Every week we just kind of see if the other team is giving it to us, and (Chippewa) was giving it to us tonight," said Doty of the onside kick. "That comes down to our defensive coordinator who is in charge of kickoff. He ended up making that call and I support whatever he does with that and trust his decisions."

With the ball in Chippewa territory, Dalton -- which finished the evening with 351 yards on the ground -- decided to stick with the run game on its final drive. Burke and Moyer got the majority of the carries, but the biggest run of the drive -- and the night -- was Raines' 4-yard touchdown score that put the Bulldogs ahead for good.

Raines ran for 116 yards on the night, with 81 of his stripes coming after halftime, while Moyer added 133 yards.

"In the second half we stepped up the blocking," said Doty. "We were struggling with some of our edge blocking, but we made a formation adjustment and were able to take advantage of it. They definitely shut down the inside, but we were able to get the edge. And it shows because our backs are tired."

The Chippewa offense did get one last chance, but four straight passes fell incomplete to end the game.

"It was a game of two different types of teams," said Wolf. "Tonight their style beat our style, but not by much. They made a couple more plays than we did in certain situations."

The game's two first-half scores were a 21-yard pass from Burke to Mann on the opening drive of the game and a 1-yard run by Chippewa's Nick Zollinger early in the second quarter.

Chippewa, which got its first win since the 2009 season last week when it defeated Waynedale, finished with just 198 yards of offense and was unable to capitalize on three Dalton fumbles.

"Tonight we just couldn't seem to get in a rhythm offensively," said Wolf. "We just weren't as good as we needed to be up front, and we didn't capitalize enough on their mistakes, where they did on ours."